This invention relates generally to catheters and more particularly to intermittent catheter assemblies incorporated in a dual purpose sterile receptacle.
Self contained urinary catheter assemblies are currently available. These self contained catheters are available with the catheter itself stowed in a flexible bag to remain in a sterile field. An introducer is mounted on the bag to catheter to be extended from the bag during use and retracted into the bag again after use. While the catheter is not extended, the introducer is covered by a sealing cover. Since the discharge end of the catheter always remains in the bag, the bag is sized to serve as a urine receptacle when the catheter is inserted through the urethra and into the bladder. These catheter assemblies typically are intermittently used only when the bladder needs to be drained and are removed after each use for disposal. The catheter/introducer assembly is the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 4,652,259, dated Mar. 24, 1987, issued to Alexander G. B. O'Neil.
One of the problems with these prior art self contained catheter assemblies is that it is difficult to obtain an uncontaminated sample from the bag for testing as is frequently required in the environment in which the assembly is used. Another problem is that it is sometimes difficult to grip the catheter through the bag and the introducer to manipulate the catheter as it is being inserted in or removed from the urethra.